Psalm 18, subdividing a long psalm

Psalm 18 - translation and detailed recurrence tables here.  I had missed a clue in the division of this first long psalm. The words of verse 2 play no part in the rest of the poem. The words of verse 20 have no part in the first 19 verses. Verse 37 has a word that frames verses 20 to 37. This divides the poem in three roughly equal sections.  Recurrence is perhaps more than a trowel, indeed, possibly a spade, or even a shovel!

As noted in my presentation, psalm 18 has a beautiful snippet in verses 21-25. The tools of parallelism, prosody, and recurrence set this set of verses up nicely.

Psalm 18:21-25

יִגְמְלֵנִי יְהוָה כְּצִדְקִי כְּבֹר יָדַי יָשִׁיב לִי	21	יְהוָה will reward me for my righteousness for the purity of my hands he will turn to me
כִּי שָׁמַרְתִּי דַּרְכֵי יְהוָה וְלֹא רָשַׁעְתִּי מֵאֱלֹהָי	22	for I have kept the ways of יְהוָה and I have not been wicked with my God
כִּי כָל מִשְׁפָּטָיו לְנֶגְדִּי וְחֻקֹּתָיו לֹא אָסִיר מֶנִּי	23	for all his judgments are before me and his statutes I will not put aside from me
וָאֱהִי תָמִים עִמּוֹ וָאֶשְׁתַּמֵּר מֵעֲו‍ֹנִי	24	and I will be complete with him and I will keep myself from my iniquity
וַיָּשֶׁב יְהוָה לִי כְצִדְקִי כְּבֹר יָדַי לְנֶגֶד עֵינָיו	25	and יְהוָה turned to me for my righteousness for the purity of my hands before his eyes

The recurring words in relative order in this section clearly show a circular structure with an added focus on the apparently unimportant word before. Before is more than an unimportant preposition. It establishes a close relationship between the poet me and the eyes of  'my God'.  Prepositions are tricky and I have been relaxed with them frequently so undoubtedly missing some sonorities at times.

Word and gloss * first usage	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Vs	Root
כצדקי for my righteousness	░								21	צדק
* כבר for the purity of		░							21	ברר
ידי my hands			░						21	יד
ישׁיב he will turn				░					21	שׁוב
* לי to me					░				21	לי
שׁמרתי I have kept						░			22	שׁמר
ולא and not							░		22	לא
* לנגדי are before me								░	23	נגד
לא not							░		23	לא
ואשׁתמר and I will keep myself						░			24	שׁמר
וישׁב and turned				░					25	שׁוב
* לי to me					░				25	לי
כצדקי for my righteousness	░								25	צדק
* כבר for the purity of		░							25	ברר
ידי my hands			░						25	יד
* לנגד before								░	25	נגד

I posted earlier on this poem here. Verses 8-16 give us another strongly coherent section

Word and gloss * first usage

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

1

Vs

Root

* ותגעשׁ and shakes

░

8

געשׁ

* ומוסדי and the foundations of

░

8

יסד

* ויתגעשׁו and are shaken

░

8

געשׁ

באפו from his nostril

░

9

אף

* ואשׁ and fire

░

9

אשׁ

* גחלים coals

░

9

גחל

שׁמים heavens

░

10

שׁמים

* רוח the wind

░

11

רוח

* חשׁך darkness

░

12

חשׁך

* חשׁכת dark

░

12

חשׁך

* מים waters

░

12

מים

* עבי thick clouds of

░

12

עב

* עביו his thick clouds

░

13

עב

* ברד hail

░

13

ברד

* וגחלי and coals of

░

13

גחל

* אשׁ fire

░

13

אשׁ

בשׁמים in the heavens

░

14

שׁמים

* ברד hail

░

14

ברד

* וגחלי and coals of

░

14

גחל

* אשׁ fire

░

14

אשׁ

* מים waters

░

16

מים

* מוסדות the foundations of

░

16

יסד

* רוח the wind of

░

16

רוח

אפך your nostrils

░

16

אף